AN ALFRESCO FOURTH WITH CHEZ ALLEZ : LIBERTY AND PICNICS FOR ALL: FEAST AT CHEZ ALLEZ

The Fourth of July calls for a communal meal--and one that’s taken outside, whether it’s a picnic, clam bake or barbecue. This Fourth, why not celebrate the ancient act of dining alfresco while commemorating the hundred-year-old Lady Liberty? Even if you’re closer to Manhattan Beach than to Manhattan, you can enjoy this year’s French-American fete with a dejeuner sur l’herbe or sur la plage .

Dining outside may date back to pre-history, but full-fledged picnics seem to have come into their glorious own in 18th-Century Europe. As urban centers flourished, people found the need to get out of town, and artists rendered these picturesque outings en plein air. Watteau painted les fetes champetres, and later both Monet and Manet immortalized bucolic dining. Monet’s canvas sported roasted chicken, cake and wine, while Manet rendered cherries and peaches, bread and, of course, a scandalous nude. Meanwhile, on this continent, fully dressed men and women picnicked next to battlefields in the midst of the Civil War.

England was certainly no 19th-Century picnic slouch either. Mrs. Isabella Beeton, author of the 1880 “Book of Household Management,” advised her readers on the proper bill of fare for such an event. For 40 persons she recommended several whole cold roasts, numerous fowls and ducks, half a dozen lobsters, 18 heads of lettuce, a large cold Christmas pudding and two pigeon pies . . . and that was just for starters. Mrs. Beeton lists brandies, claret, sherry, ginger beer and champagne as necessary drinks; she says nothing about how many servants are required to prepare and serve the meal.

This Fourth it seems more appropriate to picnic a la francaise than to dine on pigeon pie and ginger beer. If you find yourself near Redondo Beach, you just might head over to Chez Allez and pull together a celebratory franglais meal.

Chez Allez is the offspring and offshoot of Chez Melange restaurant. Located on the alley, it offers food-to-go from the same kitchen as the one that supplies the restaurant. The take-out selections tend to be hearty rather than subtle; this is down-home fare with a French touch that’s just right for the nearby beach.

If you’ve forgotten a picnic basket you can buy a handsomely outfitted one at Chez Allez, complete with checked tablecloth. You can also stock up on jams and cheeses and sauces to take home. There is a large selection of cold food dishes (they will heat other dishes up right there for you if you wish).

There are straightforward and juicy chicken breasts ($3.95), spirited slabs of Cajun meatloaf ($5.40 per pound), mild Cajun chicken complete with andouille and an inventive al dente potato salad, an amalgam of pesto and red spuds ($3.50 per pound). The calamari needs to be perked up a bit, and the wild rice was undistinguished, but Zocatecas’s ravioli salad ($4.50 per pound) was a completely satisfying combination of textures and shapes: corn and cilantro, red pepper and hearty beef chunks accompanied the pasta and made a substantial dish.

This French-American delicatessen ventures into melting-pot cuisine as well; it does a nice job on the individual Chinese dumplings-- shu mai-- as well as on the freshly made vegetable egg rolls laced with sesame oil. There is also fresh and yeasty French bread made daily, as well as a crusty home-made sourdough.

Chez Allez prepares a lively, chunky salsa, a zesty marinara sauce, fragrant homemade sausages and a large selection of truly amazing desserts (they average about $2.75 per slice). Those who go into altered states while eating spectacular desserts should beware: Chez Allez makes the kinds of desserts some people would kill for. The dried apricot and pine-nut torte with butter cream and sweet butter crust is positively narcotic. The caramel-chocolate-walnut torte is an “oh-my-God” adult candy bar. The sumptuous glazed raspberry, blueberry and mandarin orange fantasy rests on a thick brick of chocolate atop a butter cookie crust. I never could have passed a psychological test at Ellis Island after my second piece of Almost Flourless Chocolate Cake; it is chocolate to an exponential degree.

Chez Allez carries wine but a surprisingly small selection of cold drinks. I’d suggest a stop at good old Trader Joe’s down the street, where there is a fine selection of water and beer as well as anything else you might need to supplement your outdoor feast. Toast Watteau, Manet, Monet, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi and Mrs. Beeton too. And honor les dejeuners sur l’herbe et plage along with la liberte. Liberty and picnics for all.

Chez Allez, 1718 Pacific Coast Highway, Redondo Beach, (213) 540-8733. Open daily from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Beer and wine. Visa and MasterCard accepted.